24 Hour Fitness Milpitas Opens

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By Francie Soito
June 5, 2018

Photo Courtesy of 24 Hour Fitness.

On Saturday, May 12, Milpitas welcomed its 13th current gym, 24 Hour Fitness Milpitas. Amid much fanfare and anticipation, the long-vacant one-time Mervyn’s lot once again opened its doors to Milpitians, this time boasting the second 24 Hour Fitness within the city limits.

Photo courtesy of 24 Hour Fitness. General Manager Kelsey Barroga pictured here next to Mayor Rich Tran along with Vice Mayor Marsha Grilli and Councilmember Bob Nuñez and the Milpitas Chamber of Commerce as they welcome 24 Hour Fitness to their new location on 5/10/18.

“It was amazing, a lot of people, which was great to see and everyone was so excited; I couldn’t believe how excited people were. Milpitas was waiting for us and we were waiting for Milpitas,” said Kelsey Barroga, the General Manager of 24 Hour Fitness Milpitas, about the grand opening.

The original building had sat vacant since 2009, when Mervyn’s filed for bankruptcy. Since that time, much speculation has circulated as to what kind of business would be able to occupy the 75,000-square-foot space. According to Barroga, a vacant lot this size is hard to come by. “To serve the community and for a space this big, this is amazing. We get to house so many workouts, which means that people get easy access to a space like this, with a million different amenities.”

Photo Courtesy of 24 Hour Fitness.

The new 24 Hour Fitness occupies approximately 60% of the original building, a total of 47,378 square feet, and houses a variety of amenities including an indoor lap pool, a whirlpool, dry and wet saunas, a basketball court(with damage-proof forever floors), and free towel service and lockers, while offering fitness classes including cycling, yoga, pilates, Zumba®, and more. One of the gym’s more hidden gems is its App Audio, which allows members to download an app to their mobile devices and listen to a TV station that’s playing overhead. Another is their virtual, on-demand digital classes, which allow members to select from classes ranging from yoga to Zumba®, and have their selected class played in an overhead projector right in the fitness classroom. This option is also available in the gym’s cycling classroom. Meanwhile, the space’s giant overhead fans also allow for constant air circulation, cutting down on the use of A/C and reducing power consumption while minimizing temperature fluxuations during workouts.

When asked about whether this location might hurt business at the other 24 Hour Fitness location on Jacklin, less than 2 miles away, Barroga stated that they are not in competition because the two gyms are both different and complementary toward each other: “Here’s very different because you can flip a tire and not everyone wants to flip a tire. [We’re] just adding to the experience, not taking anything away.” Barroga also mentioned the two gyms’ different styles, calling the Jacklin location more traditional and citing the newer location’s broader range of amenities and offerings, which cater to a larger audience. As such, the new location opted for a pool instead of a Kids’ Club (which the Jacklin location has), as a pool helps cater to those who might need to swim for physical therapy.

Photo Courtesy of 24 Hour Fitness.

With a population of roughly 78,000 people, Milpitas has more gyms per capita than Union City, Fremont, Sunnyvale, and San Jose. According to the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, Milpitians on the whole are healthier than the average Santa Clara County resident, with longer life expectancy, in part due to fewer health issues like high blood pressure and obesity. Milpitians also have the benefit of greater-than-average access to nearby parks and open spaces. Meanwhile, on par with the rest of the county, 58% of Milpitians get the recommended amount of monthly aerobic activity.

When asked how they would measure their success, Barroga said based upon how many people they get to impact: “Does everyone have a great experience from the minute they walk in to the minute that they walk out? Members coming in multiple times means that they feel comfortable here; it means that they feel ok doing something that is uncomfortable: getting sweaty, getting sore, doing something that not everyone is super savvy at every single day.”

According to Barroga, the 24 Hour Fitness is still in trial mode. They will be observing the traffic, monitoring class attendance, and collecting feedback via multiple channels: the front desk, Facebook, Yelp, and surveys, as well as people walking into Barroga’s office. “My office door is always open,” Barroga said.

When asked what’s the one thing they’d like to communicate to Milpitians, Barroga stated, “The biggest is that we’re here to support them and that this club and my team and myself are truly revolved around being of service to somebodywho wants to make a change and we want to empower someone to make a truly life-changing decision and do something that is out of their comfort zone, do something that is going to make them feel better, run around with their kids longer — those are the things that we want. I definitely want the Milpitians to know that we’re here and that we want to take away any idea of [being] overwhelming or any insecurity that anybody has. We’re here to support you, wherever you’re at, in your journey.”

Francie Soito is a third-generation Bay Area native who has lived and worked in Milpitas since 2002. She has a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from UC Berkeley, where she studied Sociology, Anthropology, and Physics. Having worked for nearly two decades in market research and data strategy for high-tech companies like Macromedia, Yahoo!, and Facebook, Francie also holds a patent for her work in data segmentation. She is a co-owner of Black Cat Comics and sole owner of Reiki Energy Healing, both located on Main Street in Milpitas. In addition to being an author, musician, public speaker, and martial artist, Francie is the mother of three furry babies.

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